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[Hot Pepsi]

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I suspect what congress passes won't be quite that bad, but this is a living nightmare. It's hard to imagine a better way to make America both third rate in just about every category and yet more dangerous.

[Ginger Yellow]

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I liked how their defence of cutting State by a third was that "we won't be involved in as many military actions in future". So clearly it make sense to increase military spending by a few more countries' GDPs.

[Incandenza]

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We'll defeat ISIS and prevent terror attacks in the US by building more warships.

[Vulgarian Visigoth]

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Ginger Yellow wrote:

And so it begins.

At this point I would like to have a meeting with those clueless leftists who romanticised Trump as some sort of anti-system champion of the neglected underdog, the same people, incidentally, who seem to have a permanent hard-on over Putin.

[caja-dglh]

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Make Lockheed Martin great again.

[San Bernardhinault]

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Before everyone freaks out too much, remember that this is a Presidential appropriations request. These never actually happen, as the budget comes out of Congress.

What comes out of congress is not going to look anything like this. The Republicans might be fine with killing Big Bird, Big Opera and Big small-scale-renewables. But when it comes to cutting $6b from the NIH they're going to have Big Pharma very upset. And cutting meals on wheels and heating subsidies for the elderly poor, means they'll have big AARP on their back. And these are the groups that can really drive Republican voters away.

[anton pulisov]

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"Can I have another Werther's Original? Please, I've been a good boy."

[Tubby Isaacs]

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Are those farm subsidy cuts up there?

Those won't happen.

[Tubby Isaacs]

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The federal budget for arts and culture was $973m before? Doesn't sound much. Lots of states much give basically fuck all too.

Our Department of Culture Media and Sport has a budget of £1.4bn.

[Amor de Cosmos]

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Arts funding in the US relies much more on foundations than direct government grants.

[Diable Rouge]

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And Enda has invited Trump to Ireland, which will occur at some point during his Presidency.

[ursus arctos]

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And cutting meals on wheels and heating subsidies for the elderly poor, means they'll have big AARP on their back.

AARP is already apoplectic over "Ryancare". The "rules" that we all internalised over the last several decades do not necessarily apply in a chamber full of Trumpists.

That doesn't mean that all the cuts will be enacted as proposed, but I do believe that interested parties need to pay attention and keep the pressure on.

[Satchmo Distel]

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Diable Rouge wrote: And Enda has invited Trump to Ireland, which will occur at some point during his Presidency.

I read that as Brenda and had visions of QEII at death's door meeeting Trump in the wrong country

[Incandenza]

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Here's OMB director Mulvaney while defending cutting programs for school meals for hungry kids and heating subsidies for old people:



Think he's Irish? If only there was some indication.

[San Bernardhinault]

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Apparently, Mulvaney said that cutting Meals of Wheels is compassionate to taxpayers

“You're only focusing on half of the equation, right? You’re focusing on recipients of the money. We’re trying to focus on both the recipients of the money and the folks who give us the money in the first place,”

If I didn't know better, I'd think it was the kind of bad satire I'd see on SNL and think they were being too trite.

[ursus arctos]

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He also said that there was no correlation between school meals and "performance".

They are genuine sociopaths.

[Sam]

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In fairness to him, there can't be a correlation until you ban some students from eating during the day and measure their performance. It's all in the name of research.

[Fussbudget]

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Tubby Isaacs wrote: The federal budget for arts and culture was $973m before? Doesn't sound much. Lots of states much give basically fuck all too.

Our Department of Culture Media and Sport has a budget of £1.4bn.

Crikey, France's is over €7bn.

[Tubby Isaacs]

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Lots of ours must be for sport. Those gold medals don't win themselves.

Everytime I hear someone say "top British athletes" I can feel my tax going up.

[Seven Saxon Kings]

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I thought the sport was funded by the National Lottery, not tax? (Although I'm sure someone will be along to claim the Lottery is a tax).

[Tubby Isaacs]

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Er good point.

[ursus arctos]

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As Amor noted, cultural funding in the US is much less national government dependent than in (most of) Europe.

Speaking very generally, museums will derive about a quarter of their income from government (not just federal, but state and city support can be substantial, particularly in a city like NY); a quarter from entrance fees, rentals of event spaces, and (increasingly) gift shop tat, close to 40% from donations (which are tax exempt, and thus indirectly subsidised by the state) and the remainder from investment income on their endowment. The Metropolitan Museum in NY has an endowment of more than USD 2 billion.

Unsurprisingly, the more established and well known the institution, the less reliant it is on state funding. If enacted, these cuts would fall disproportionally on smaller and less established institutions outside of major cultural centres.

[Fussbudget]

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Seven Saxon Kings wrote: I thought the sport was funded by the National Lottery, not tax? (Although I'm sure someone will be along to claim the Lottery is a tax).

Nope, it's a bit of both.

[Snake Plissken]

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Someone pointed out that they could save the $900m they want to cut by simply having Trump and family live in the White House for the four years of his Presidency.

[caja-dglh]

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Ah, but that is a State cost, not a Federal one (though the Fed is expected to reimburse).